China in Manila: Golden Fortune

Binondo is a haven for those who want to grab a bite of authentic Chinese dishes. With a bunch of old time favorites still busy as ever in the bustling Chinatown, many opened branches just a few miles away from where it all started. Such was the case for Golden Fortune which opened back in the 70's. And throughout the years, this place has not lost its touch as it continues to delight every guest's taste buds with its delectable dishes. 

Hello, Golden Fortune. 

Golden Fortune has been one of the household names when it comes to great Chinese restaurants. It being around for three decades is enough proof that it stood the test of time and remains relevant to the discerning market today. 

Cheap Bites: Above Sea Level

Above Sea Level has been one of the most successful concepts that started in food parks. It started in January 2017 and grew to over a hundred branches and franchises nationwide. And last April, it found a new home at Pobstacion. Its fragrant dishes made it hard for us to ignore its famous battered butterfly squid. 

Hello, Above Sea Level.

Consistent with its vision to be identified as the first seafood fast food brand in the country, our crunchy treats were served within 10 minutes.

The Red Crab Alimango House opens in El Nido

Crab is probably the only seafood I have a love-hate relationship with. I love eating its fresh and slightly sweet meat, not to mention that divine crab fat. But getting all those could be a pain. And more often than not, I avoid ordering crab if it's not de-shelled as I've developed a bit of trauma from being hurt while cracking open those long legs. Then again, seeing ginormous ones could be too hard to resist especially when its a restaurant's specialty. 

Hello, The Red Crab Alimango House. 

If you've been to The Red Crab Alimango House in Manila, you'd know that this establishment takes "crab" seriously as it is one of the best places to satisfy your hunger for this delectable crustacean. 

First Bite: Wok with Mom

I feel absolutely bad for not being able to properly celebrate my mom's birthday. I was swamped with work on her birthday that we only got to briefly meet on her special day. To make up for it, I decided to host a small lunch party for her with my sister. And Wok with Mom definitely came in at the most perfect time.

Hello, Wok with Mom.

Wok with Mom is a humble home-based party tray business that was started in 2018 by Oi's 77 year old mom. Specializing in authentic Filipino-Chinese dishes like Eight Treasure Chicken, Citrus Baked Pork Spareribs and Potato Shrimp Chinese Salad, Wok with Mom became a popular choice for celebrations and all kinds of festivities. 

Flower Boy: Colors of Thailand in Manila

One of the stalls that opened early at The Grid is Tankchop XL which is now named as Flower Boy. Offering ginormous pork chop rice and picturesque Pad Thai, this stall experienced a lot of hiccups on its first few months of operations. Thankfully, it managed to get the groove of moving plates fast after some time. 

Hello, Flower Boy. 

Flower Boy is one of the first stalls you'll see if you circle The Grid clockwise. Located at stall #2, this kiosk specializes in Thai local fare and one of its signature dishes is its Pad Thai. 

First Bite: Wobbly Pan

One of the things I love spending time with my family is that I get dibs on where we'll eat. And for last week's feast, we decided to try Wobbly Pan.
 
Hello, Wobbly Pan.

Wobbly Pan is one of the relatively new restaurants at Shangri-La Plaza. Located at the ground floor near the old Dome and Mercury Drug, it would be quite hard to miss this place.

When in Iloilo: Tytche Grill & Seafood Restaurant

Tagging along R's local trips are tiring and fun at the same time. I get to see the Philippines in a different light, seeing places that are not exactly what you'd consider touristy. And at the same time, I get to experience the local life and savor the different cities' rich flavors. One of my favorite places for seafood is Iloilo and a top contender for the best seafood restaurant is Tytche Grill & Seafood Restaurant in Dumangas. 

Hello, Tytche Grill & Seafood Restaurant. 

This restaurant is a bit far from the city center and definitely a place I wouldn't consider going if I was traveling Iloilo on my own. Situated near the Iloilo port, it would be hard to visit this place without a car as there are not much public transportation that pass and stop by this area. 

Revisited: Genki Sushi

A concept born in 1968, Genki Sushi has grown from a Japanese sushi bar into an international brand. It opened its first store in Manila 3 years ago and it has been expanding ever since. Its success can be attributed to its extensive menu of pocket-friendly sushi and maki and interesting way of having it served. And Genki Sushi beefed up its offerings even more by adding bentos and rice toppings. 

Hello, Genki Sushi. 

It has been a long while since my last visit at this quirky sushi bar. I still recall how much fun I had ordering my favorites and the giddiness I felt whenever my "race car" or "train" arrives with my orders. This time around, I didn't focus much on the novelty of how the food's delivered and focused more on the dishes. And for this visit, I got to try some of Genki Sushi's newest dishes. 

First Bite: New Kamameshi House

Japanese restaurants never fail to charm me like light to fly. I’d go to one for lunch or dinner if I have the chance to do so. And when I spotted New Kamameshi House during one of our Pokemon Go runs, R already knew where we were going to have dinner. 

Hello, New Kamameshi House.

I heard that this Japanese restaurant is one of the pioneers in Quezon Memorial Circle. With it having several years of being in business, my expectation from this place went up a bit. 

There were not a lot of people when we dropped by around 7:30 pm on a Sunday night. In fact, there were only 2 other tables occupied then. 

First Bite: Café Lidia

After 9 hours of eating, we have finally reached the last stop of our Marikina food crawl. And just when we thought we’ll just have a spoonful of each dish, we were spoiled with mouthwatering pasta dishes, pizzas, meats and cakes! And we simply could not say no to those!

Hello, Café Lidia.

Café Lidia is one of the pioneer restaurants in Marikina and has been well-loved by residents and foodies alike. Most have seen this establishment grow from a humble restaurant to a space that could cater to special occasions like weddings and birthday parties. And I was surprised that at almost 9 pm, the place was still packed with diners. 

The place has this Hispanic or Old Manila feel with its brick walls, wooden furniture and lovely pond. 

As we waited for the dishes we were about to sample, I browsed through the menu and was impressed with the number of dishes Café Lidia offers. They have several viands, pasta, pizza and cakes to choose from.

First Bite: Holy Crab!

Part of our Aguirre itinerary is E’s sister’s seafood restaurant. I haven’t been to this place before and it didn’t really make a lot of noise as well hence being out of the looloo radar. But I’m sure glad we stopped by.

Hello, Holy Crab!

The not so new seafood restaurant has the same concept as Boiling Crab in the US and Shrimp Bucket here in Manila. I heard though that Holy Crab was the first one to bring such concept here in Manila. It’s just that the other player was a bit more aggressive in expanding. 

The smell of shelled fish was the first thing I noticed as soon as I stepped inside the restaurant. It reminded me of dampa. It wasn’t funky; but it wasn’t exactly pleasant as well. 

Since we just came from Bamba Bistro, I was a bit hesitant to order a dish for myself so I decided to just share with E and K. 

We ordered Mussels in Garliky-Lime and Salted Eggs Sauce (PHP330), Grilled Tuna Belly (PHP260), and a pitcher of Raspberry Cooler (PHP175). 

Service was fast and first served was our drink which was refreshing but dilluted. 

Mussels were served next and it was a pretty generous serving. One order was definitely good for sharing. 

Love at First Bite: Urameshi-Ya

It has been months since I saw J's Urameshi-Ya Instagram post and I can't help dream about unlimited wagyu, oysters and scallops. The best part is that it only costs PHP500 (plus service charge). Thankfully, some loolooers were game to brave the Makati weekday traffic to visit the Little Tokyo's not so hidden gem. Since most are free today, July 4 (which also happens to be a Monday, the surest day that Urameshi-ya has wagyu), we decided to go for it! 

Hello, Urameshi-Ya!

Little Tokyo was a ghost town when we arrived as most restaurants open at 5 pm. While waiting, we enjoyed some ice cream from Dojo which I will review separately. 

It was just 4:30 pm when Che Che of Urameshi-Ya approached our table asking if we're complete as we could already start if we want to. We were pleased as it means that we could eat earlier as I was famished! (I only had SkyFlakes in preparation for this feast!)

Soon, we were given tongs and griller. (We were given two but the other griller was placed on our table after 10 minutes or so.)

First Bite: Johnny Kahuku's Hawaiian Shrimp House

I first spotted Johnny Kahuku's Hawaiian Shrimp House in the South but never had the chance to visit as I had dinner plans elsewhere. But food gods want me to drop by this place and soon, I found myself in front of this colourful establishment’s North branch one Saturday afternoon. 

Hello, Johnny Kahuku's Hawaiian Shrimp House! 

It was like being transported to Hawaii as soon as you step foot inside the restaurant designed as a shrimp shack. The colorful wall decor, warm lights and wooden furniture are so inviting and cozy making it a nice place for family lunches or dinners or a nice catch up meal with friends. 

Johnny Kahuku is known for its seafood fare so we went with Tuna Ahi Poke (PHP365), Island Pride (PHP595, 6 pcs of shrimp | PHP645, 9 pcs of shrimp), Fiesta Paella (PHP899) and Tropical Chill (PHP285). 

First served was the tuna ahi poke bowl which was chilled ahi tuna drizzled with ginger shoyu sauce on top of rice. You may opt for brown rice for no additional cost. 

The tuna cubes were undeniably fresh. I loved the subtle sweet taste from the dressing which went so well with the Japanese rice. 

Gastro Park Kapitolyo Find #6: Tokyo Tempura

The craze for food parks has just began as more and more areas are being developed to accommodate start up food concessionaires offering unique and delectable dishes and drinks. Sadly, I haven’t been to most and the only ones I have visited were Pioneer Food Market (where I just walked and exited in a few minutes) and Gastro Park Kapitolyo. One of the stalls I tried a few months ago was this Japanese store that offers unlimited tempura.

Hello, Tokyo Tempura!

Gastro Park was packed when we went one Saturday night. We were lucky though to spot an empty table at Tokyo Tempura. Honestly, this store didn’t attract me when I visited earlier that same day. I guess it was because their tempura was just the usual, except that they also offer unlimited tempura. 

But since we will sit there, we made sure to buy something from the store. Hungry R availed of the Tempura All You Can (PHP199) while my friends and I decided to share Chili Cheese (PHP49) and Stuffed Chori Burger (PHP180). The burger is from Offbeat Burger but is also owned or managed by Tokyo Tempura. 

R’s tempura was served first which he quickly attacked hence it being undocumented. We noticed that the tempura was quite short. Small and thin shrimps were used for the tempura and there was more batter than shrimp. Since it was an unlimited promo, the ones who avail of this have to sit near the store so that the servers could monitor as sharing is not allowed. R, being persistent and all, gave me a few bites of the tempura while nervously checking if the rather huge server saw us. 

The Chili Cheese was super spicy that one small nibble made me turn red. It is definitely not for those with low spice tolerance. I didn’t even get a taste of cheese.

Restaurant Favorite: California Pizza Kitchen

As a tradition, my team and I went out for dinner to celebrate getting our bonuses. (Yay, more money to buy food!) But unlike last year, we are celebrating (sort of) two events, our bonuses and my despedida. *cries*

I was pushing for Peperoni that time but all my teammates were craving for California Pizza Kitchen's delectable The Original BBQ Chicken Chopped (PHP625, full | PHP395, half). Fine. 

I got to the place late as I had to go to St. Luke’s Global City first to get my X-Ray results. And I got lost on my way to the W Building. I always get disoriented at night and this is the reason why I always hurry back home when the sun’s about to disappear. Anyway...

All the dishes were already served when I arrived. On the table were: Quattro Formaggi (PHP450), Pepperoni (PHP365, regular | PHP225, personal), Pesto Cream Penne with Shrimps (PHP525, sharing | PHP295, personal + PHP295/PHP160 for shrimps) and Bangkok Calamari (PHP465). 

The Calamari were just so-so for me. It was your usual deep-fried battered squid rings. 

The BBQ chicken salad was divine as always. It had a nice harmony of flavors and textures. It was sweet because of the barbecue sauce but also refreshing because of the cilantro and other herbs. The soft chicken bits were also well complemented but the crunchy greens. The dish was quite heavy but great for sharing. 

First Bite: Ippon Yari

A month seems incomplete without a trip to Tagaytay. It is our little sweet haven from the chaotic Manila life. After all, lazing around R’s rest house always sounds like the perfect weekend getaway plan. A few weeks back, R suggested that we check some outlets on our way back and have lunch around the area. I quickly checked looloo for suggestions and Ippon Yari caught my attention with its high rating. Plus, it is said to be the “place to be” for Japanese expatriates who work around the area.

Hello, Ippon Yari.

The place is easy to spot as it is located on the second floor of the Piazza building right across the outlet compound near Adidas. There were only a few diners when we got there as it was already a bit past 1 pm then.  

We were quickly assisted to our table and handed menu. The place has an extensive menu ranging from sushi and sashimi, rice bowls, and tempura to sukiyaki, ramen and teppanyaki dishes. R and I opted to get Salmon Sashimi (PHP220), Unadon (PHP520), Ebi Tempura and Salmon Sushi. (Sorry, I failed to take note of the prices of the last two dishes.)

We asked the server if the chef could have our salmon sushi torched so that we could enjoy salmon aburi. But when the server’s face turned blank and confused, I already knew that we won’t have salmon aburi. And true enough, upon checking with the chef, they can’t serve it. *sad*

First Bite: Taco Vengo!

Ever since my office moved to Fort, I hardly get to visit Kapitolyo, my favorite foodie haven. But thanks to the long weekend, I got to visit this lovely area again and managed to visit not just one but three stops. Our first stop was the raved taco place named Taco Vengo!

Hello, Taco Vengo!

I have been looking forward to visit this place after reading all those positive reviews and seeing mouthwatering photos of tacos. And the place being Instagram-worthy makes it even more irresistible. 

The place is part of the small compound where Nav and Longganisa Sorpresa are located. Though the restaurant does not have frontage, you could easily spot it thanks to its signage alongside the more established food stops. 

Taco Vengo!'s menu is not that extensive but since I'm a newbie, I asked for recommendations and I was told that their best seller is the Shrimp Taco (PHP110 for 1 taco; PHP210 for 2 tacos). I ordered two of that and one Steak Taco (PHP110) and Cheese Quesadillas (PHP120). I was tempted to make my steak taco into a rice bowl but the server said that their fillings are best served with soft tacos. The place has the word "taco" in its name after all. I also got a glass of house blend iced tea while my sister went with a can of soda. 

First served was the saddest looking quesadilla I have ever seen. It was so flat and it looked like it was just a piece of folded thick tortilla. 

And it tasted just like pita. The cheese filling was too mild and there was a very, very faint taste of cheese. The sour cream helped give a bit more flavor though. 

My iced tea arrived next and it tasted...weird. It had a strong herb-y taste which I didn't like at all.

Next served were the shrimp and steak taco. 

They only served one shrimp taco instead of two and I didn't bother to correct it anyway thinking that the server just got the quantity wrong. But after tasting it, I sort of regretted not calling the server's attention. 

First Bite: Genki Sushi

Ever since I heard about how fun it is to order food at Genki Sushi, the foodie in me wants to jump, giddily hop, and moonwalk to the popular Japanese restaurant in BGC Stopover. But every time I plan to visit, something happens. *pouts* This is why when R surprised me with a visit and asked me if I want to have dinner at Genki Sushi, I uttered a big YES with a big smile to match. 

Hello, Genki Sushi!!!

I have been waiting to dine here for months! And finally, I could press those buttons and a train or race car will come my way with some delectable Japanese dishes.

Despite being so sore from insanity workout (yes, I just have to say it to make me look less of a glutton), I happily micro hopped to Genki Sushi. Thankfully, the place was not packed and we managed to get a table with ease.

Before going crazy over the high tech way of ordering, the server gave us a short intro on how to order and that we could enjoy unlimited supply of matcha with our meals.

As soon as the server left, R and I began to stare at the menu plastered on the “food tunnel.” We drooled over Salmon Belly (PHP80), Lobster Salad (PHP120), Lobster Salad Roll (PHP150), Unadon (PHP350) and Chirashi Don (PHP420). 

*choo choo*

The train arrived first with Salmon Belly, Lobster Salad and Unadon.

Given the friendly prices for sushi, I was not really expecting great sushi from this place. But I was pleasantly surprised that the salmon sushi was decent. In fact, it was good. The color was nice and it was fresh. Yay! Great deal for PHP80!

The lobster salad which was topped with crunchy flakes and sweet sauce was pretty heavy. I didn't get a hint of lobster though due to its tiny serving per roll.